ORANGES AND LEMONS IN AFRICV — MOROCCO. 401 



reduced, tli<' apitlicjaliou is iiniCoiiii, and Ihc, rcsulte rnoBl- certain and 

 beneficial to all trees. 



Sitvation. — Orange orchards are planted both inland and oil the sea- 

 coast, on valleys, hillsides, and uplands. They yield best results ia 

 well drained low-lying lands sheltered from the cold north winds. 



Some are within 200 yards of the sea on the sand. 



Irrigation. — They are irrigated artificially, mostly from wells from 

 which the water is drawn by animal power, with very primitive draw- 

 wells. 



Cultivation. — The ground is manured and cultivated with a heavy 

 hoe once a j-ear. The yield and proceeds can not be ascertained in 

 Morocco. The cost of cultivation, including manuring, in the best 

 orange orchards is at the rate of 25 cents per tree per annum ; labor- 

 er's and pruner's wages from 18 to 20 cents per day. 



OBSERVATIONS ON ORANGE CULTURE. 



In any country where the medium temperature in winter is superior 

 to 40° and in summer rises to 85°, the cultivation of orange orchards 

 can be made lucrative. 



Orange trees are not particular with regard to soil; they grow lux- 

 uriantly in the sand, and even in strong and very inferior soils, pro- 

 vided they are manured and copiously watered in the summer. There 

 have been empirics who have written on the orange trees and on the 

 manner of composting the soil, recommending all sorts of filthy nos- 

 trums and unwholesome composts which nature never designed, and 

 nobody can form an idea of the mischief which such people do. In nine 

 cases out of ten the leading cause of failure, where trees get diseased 

 or where neither fruit nor flowers are had with any certainty, is due to 

 ill-treatment and poisoning of the roots with the obnoxious mixtures. 



Seedlings are always preferred, as they stand cold weather and their 

 yield is enormous ; besides, the objects to be attained in raising the 

 orange trees from seed, are, first, to procure new varieties, all of which 

 are more or less acceptable as to size, flavor, and shape ; secondly, to 

 provide hardy stocks for grafting or budding known fancy varieties, in 

 preference to grafting or budding on stock raised from the cuttings of 

 citrons, or even of orange cuttings, which are more delicate, of less 

 growth, and short life. In recurring to budding, the hardiest stock of 

 all is that of the bitter or sour orange, the most beautiful of the tribe 

 in form, elegance of foliage, and abundance of fruit. When the medium 

 atmospherical temperature of the spring has reached 70° the seed may 

 be sown and watered regularly, and in fifteen days they will come up. 

 If the seeds are from the finest, ripest fruits, there will be no necessity 

 of budding to perfectionate the fruit. The fruits from trees raised 

 from seed are the earliest and stand transportation well ; the flowers of 

 these trees stand the cold weather best. 



